Destiny Awaits
by FanFicAddict02
Summary: Woodrow Pride was always destined to be the 'Chosen One', whilst Jessica Smith was always set to be the 'Link' and only the childhood within can keep everything connected.  But what happens when your childhood's been stolen?  Human fic.  WoodyxJessie
1. Why Can't You See?

Disclaimer: I do not own Toy Story.

A/N So, erm...the inspiration for this idea came to me when I looked out to the sea on a dull and foggy day (We get many where I live 0.o). Don't ask how, I just did. Lol. A/N

_The day that officially ended the wonders of their child hood took place on the date of the twenty-third of August 1997. It ended their entire friendship, of which had been built over a span of ten years._

_Since you can't be friends with someone who's been missing out your life for years, can you?_

"Uh...Jess?" Woody asked, with doubt scattered all over his hoarse voice. "Are you sure we should be doing this?"

The young boy had to contain a sigh of absolute annoyance as his best friend urged him forward, further into the depths of the dense forest, ducking down whenever they came across a branch suspending down to Earth too far, threatening to knock them on their back sides without the slightest hesitation.

Rolling her eyes, Jessica Smith risked a glance back towards the struggling child struggling to catch up to the ever so fast girl and she couldn't help but giggle at his awkward site. For a lad of his age, he was quite tall. They were both tall actually, but it was the boy that had the extra few inches to add to Jessie's height.

But when he was running, his long long limbs were a major disadvantage, as his arms often tended to flail in all directions with a comic affect. It reminded the red-head of how a rag-doll might sprint, of which made her smirk at the thoughts.

"Are ya having second thoughts yellow?" She remarked in a cheeky manner, knowing that she was tugging at the strings of his patience.

Woody couldn't help but narrow his eyes at this; she knew he hated that name!

But this still didn't ease his stomach in the slightest.

"But this area's outta bounds!" Woody claimed as he leapt over a broken branch, of which lay within the dirt and the scattered vegetation like a fallen light in the middle of the street.

Jessie couldn't help but smile at his assumable excuse. Any excuse to get out of something that required wits.

"You're never going to become a Sheriff if you can't even dare to be a little adventurous," She remarked, before she slowed down a bit to take a firm grip on the sleeve of his shirt, dragging him forward even more.

If Jessie's grip hadn't been so firm, then he would've fell face first in the mud already at the speed he was travelling. Well...technically the speed Jessie was dragging him at.

"I think I'd rather keep a clean record," Woody just about managed to gasp.

Jessie rolled her eyes for yet a second time as she led him to the destination.

Okay, all she had to do was follow the path; follow the path, and she'll get there. That exactly what she had done last time.

Except, there wasn't really a route at all. She was just leading herself where her instinct ordered; a natural instinct.

And she could feel herself getting closer. Oh, if he could only witness what she wanted to show him now. He'd be beyond amazed at the purely impecabble site. No, wait. He wouldn't be amazed; he'd be gobsmacked.

"And where's the fun out of that?" She asked, her grin widening into a mischievous smirk as she followed the feeling in her guts.

She was going the right way wasn't she? Yeah, she was. The feeling she had in her gut was too strong. But she couldn't get herself to turn back anyway; as if she was being drawn towards a magical predator desperate for its afternoon meal.

"Uh...my freedom?"

"Freedom ain't nothing compared to what I've got to show you next," Jessie pointed out.

A normal twelve-year-old wouldn't bring themselves to bothered in what the girl had to show next. Heck, they wouldn't get themselves off the sofa in the first place.

But Jessie was a different kid. Hell, you wouldn't even get her sat down to begin with. She was always full on an unnatural sense of energy that made her hyperactive and rather rowdy, if she tried hard enough.

"What are you wanting to show me anyway?" Woody asked, the small rays of sunlight, that escaped through the large mass of leaves, reflecting off his dark brown hair in uneven patches.

"You'll see," She told him and, under normal circumstances, Woody would've protested instantly. Bot for some reason, he felt his common sense melt into a large pool that had been frozen into an ice-cap during the freezing months of Winter. Rather ironic that it was now the middle of Summer, heading to Autumn actually.

_**'So two small kids allowed their curiosity make the best out of them...they were around your age actually.**_

_**But it was their curiosity that changed everything between them and it only morphed into the worst.'**_

After a few minutes, the feeling in her guts became stronger; much stronger. So she followed her instinct for the last few moments, before coming to an abrupt halt, almost causing the boy next to him to stumble forward.

"Be careful, ya divi," Jessie joked.

However, Woody's eyebrow soon rose when he saw the silver glimmer upon the shady pile of leaves.

"What on Earth is this?" Woody asked, almost causing Jessie to completely forget the subject as she gaped at the knife in his hands. The blade was rusting, but still reflected light, and the blade was a dusty shade of black.

"Where did you find that?" Jessie murmured as she eyed the knife out of curiosity.

"In the leaves right there," Woody answered as he indicated the pile. "What do you think it was used for?"

It didn't take long for Jessie to figure out. She was a crack at things like this. She was almost able to match items together perfectly; as if the link between the items was too much for her to physically handle.

"It was used to carve someone's initials on that tree over there," Jessie stated with an arched eyebrow as she pointed towards a large tree. And, just as she had said, it had been carved into.

"Wow," Woody commented. "How did you guess that?"

"Uh...I saw that it had been carved into and I just sorta guess it was this knife," She lied.

"Oh," Woody murmured as he handed her the knife.

"Hey, y'know what I think?" Jessie asked, waiting for Woody's response, which was simply a shrug of the shoulders. So she smiled, before answering: "I think we're not the only ones who've been here."

After a few moments, Jessie suddenly had an idea; a deadly idea.

"Why don't we carve our names onto it?"

For a brief period, Woody was hesitant, but his uneasiness just simply disintegrated itself in a matter of seconds.

"Sure," He answered. "Why not?"

Smirking, she was about to head over to the tree, when she remembered what she had even came here for.

Looking to her left, she saw exactly what she wanted to see.

"That's what I wanted to show you Wood," She told him, proudly pointing to the crack that ran straight across her left side, seeming never-ending.

Woody only gazed at where she was pointing, before staring at her oddly.

"The ground?" He asked expectantly, clearly not seeing what she was seeing.

"No," She answered, rolling her eyes in the process. "It's right there. Y'see the big crack?"

"No,"

She bit her lip to contain her annoyance, before she returned her gaze to the tree. When she looked back, however, the crack was completely gone.

So instead of protesting over the fact, she simply shook her head. But she knew she wasn't seeing things. She'd have to come back and take a picture of it later to show proof to Woody.

However, when she came across the carving in the tree, she stopped dead in her tracks as her breath caught in her throat.

It was a very unusual site for her, because scrawled on the bark of the tree was a sentence or so. Definitely not English for sure.

But it was how the words were written out that really unnerved her. The words were in an almost perfect scrawl, of which you'd never achieve with a knife.

_'Is est fatum of electus unus quod link statuo fortuna , tantum futurus iunctus ex childhood intus.'_

This was what was written on the bark of the tree, and it sure did confuse her. She didn;t even have an idea of what language it even was.

"Uh...Woody?" She questioned. "Can you read that?"

"What...?" Woody murmured as he squinted to read the words Jessie was indicating.

"H and S forever?" Woody questioned. "Is that what you meant?"

Jessie was about to decline the fact, when the words simply disappeared.

Weird...? She could only convince herself that it had all been a segament of her imagination.

But this was until she actually tried to inscribe the words onto the bark.

'Iungo&..."

Her eyes widened as was in the middle of writing the second name, when she flexed her hand. This definitely wasn't normal.

"Jess?" Woody asked in slight concern when she grunted aloud. To his eyes, it looked as if she had written 'J&-' "What are you doing?"

She remained completey silent as she stared at her own hand in horror. It felt as if her hand was being scratched; cut.

And she felt this way until she actually realized that she was being cut, leaving the bloody word inscribed onto the back of her hand.

_'Iungo'_

She swallowed a gulp, suddenly losing every aspect of common sense she had as she broke off into a run, the knife still firm within her grip.

It was as if those words were controlling her every instinct as a strong sense of fear overwhelmed her. But in truth, she had never been so scared in her life.

But the words didn't control Woody's actions. In fact, they made him beyond curious over her current acts. This wasn't like her at all.

"Jess!" Woody yelled as he broke off into a sprint, having no idea why she was running. "What are you doing?"

She didn't answer, but instead disappeared from his site completely.

"Jessie!" He yelled. But, no matter how many times he could call out her name, she was no where to be found.

So this was the day that affetively ruined their childhood; obliterating their friendship completely.

You can't be friends with a missing girl.

A/N It's not a very good start, I don't think. Oh well, let me know what you think of it if you can.

Feel free to review if you want!

xxxxxxxxxShannonxxxxxxxxx


	2. Wanna Be A Sheriff?

Disclaimer: I do not own Toy Story.

A/N I would like to thank everyone who has reviewed, put this story on alert or faves y so far:). A/N

_Eventually, every sense of recollection Woodrow Pride had of Jessica Smith faded into the background as the years passed by; ticking slowly by like a dying crater._

_Since, you see, the young 'Link' disappeared on that summers day of the twenty-third of August and she vanished without the slightest trace as she raced through the never-ending forest. And she disappeared from Woodrow Pride's life completely._

_No-one knew what it could've been and they had no idea what on Earth would be so unearthly to cause her abrupt act to take place._

_However, even though it only allowed her to see the sudden changes, this never stopped the boy from noticing that she was staring at something with an unnatural sense of interest; the bad kind. The interest you have when you stare at a plummeting plane heading, point-blank, towards the centre of your town. But he hadn't been able to pick out what. She had stared at the tree bark in absolute horror, before gazing at her hand in terror, almost as if she had accidentally cut it with the rusty knife she held._

_And he never knew why Jessie had even brought him to the forest in the first place. She had tried to show him something, but he had only seen the vegetation. And no matter how many times he had pictured the same area in his mind and no matter how hard he tried, he could never picture what she saw in his eyes. It was an impossibility. It just wasn't there._

_So, as the years went by, he allowed the memory of the day to slip from his mind; just as he had allowed Jessie to slip from his grasp that day, even though he knew fully well that he could've caught up with her if he had tried._

_But, deep inside, he had always known that part of the blame for her disappearance had the right to fall on him. He should have noticed that something was wrong earlier than he did._

_Then it all could have been avoided._

_But he didn't, and her disappearance had a greater impact than anyone could've imagined; literally._

_However, there was nothing he could do, other than let the memories of her drift away completely; settling themselves into the back of his mind like a bird would huddle in an overflowing nest._

_The connection was now broken..._

Deputy Pride groaned as he entered the Police station that morning. His hair was slick across his scalp, from the intense heat that blazed down from the rays of the everlasting sun, and his eyes were the usual; bloodshot and almost lifeless.

After six years as working as a deputy, he felt like his dead end job was heading absolutely nowhere in the ruthless charade life inflicted upon him. His current job was nothing like he expected it to be during his teenage years. He had once believed that the job would lead to be a life of adventure, of which would permanently pump the steams of adrenaline through his blood, overriding his nerves; making him desperate and hungry for more.

But, it actually turned out that the job can actually be like how he presumed: For the Sheriff

And he wasn't a Sheriff. He was just a darn deputy; a sidekick in hand; the pushover receiving no credit for all the cases solved. The one made to do the paperwork whilst their superior was patted on the back.

But it wasn't like he didn't try. He worked hard in this job and had personally pushed the limit several times when he actually asked for the promotion.

_'We're looking for a more ambitious person, with a vivid personality, to run the team.' _Was always their excuse. But he never even specifically asked for that kind of promotion. He just didn't want to be at the bottom of the league table for once.

And what did they mean when they told him he wasn't ambitious? He always worked hard to achieve his goal. Maybe even harder than everyone else on the team. Yeah, maybe he wasn't exactly vivid, hence why his glum personality, but he worked hard. And that was what should matter.

He never knew exactly what it was that inflicted his dull expression. Maybe it was the permanent hle in his heart, that was yet to be filled, that caused it? He had no idea.

But he forced these thoughts from his head as he made his way over to the Sheriff's office, walking through several glum hallways in the process.

Having just turned twenty-five, Jessica Smith had been gone for more than half of his life and all current memories of her had been swept away to the back of her mind.

In fact, he could barely even remember why he absolutely dreaded the day of the twenty-third of August in the first place.

_So the boy was no longer a boy; and is instead a full grown man. But life had seemingly hit a dead end to him. He saw no hope in his job and no hope in succeeding in life either._

_The toll of the missing girl had unknowingly inflicted it's impact upon the man, even though he had been completely unaware of it at the time. So this would've been the main reason why he struggled to make a show of himself at the workplace. Why his talents were never noticed to their true potential._

_But they had no idea of what he could really do, and even he had no idea either._

_However, it was his next errand that set it all up; setting him up to soon find out._

"Aww sh-sugar," Woody murmured as he readjusted the badge on his best, noticing that he probably hadn't followed the directions carefully enough.

This was probably the first ever time he had been given the chance to wear the Sheriff's vest and badge, but boy did he feel a sense of somewhat pride overwhelm him as he caught a glimpse of the reflective badge.

Basically, his boss was wanting him to control a riot down town, which had led into the restricted forest, and his boss believe wearing the badge would be the only way to control the situation.

But really, wearing the badge would only lead him into further trouble, especially since he had somehow gotten lost within te forest in the process.

_Okay, _Woody began to tell himself. _All I need to do is find the main trail and I'll get back into town._

But the problem was, he had no idea where the heck the trail was. And he had no compass with him.

Cursing, he scanned the area around him thoroughly, looking for any sign of an exit within the dense forest.

He found nothing that could help him in the slightest and it remained this way until he spotted the dusty crack in the ground, of which seemingly spanned the entire length of the forest.

_So he followed the trail. He had no other hope. It was either follow the track, or become extremely lost within the depths of the density._

_But then he came across something he hadn't came across since that day._

A/N Sorry this chapter's short and sorry it's not very good...lol.

Anyway, feel free to send a review or a suggestion if you want!

xxxxxxxxShannonxxxxxxxxx


	3. The Blood of War

Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Toy Story.

A/N I would like to thank everyone who has reviewed, put this story on alert or faves so far:). A/N

Woodrow Pride was never the one to ask for directions. But he had the serious urge to yell for help when he found himself lost in the forest, for the second time in his life; the first having been when Jessica Smith disappeared from his life. On that day, he had been calling out for help for what must've been hours, before eventually spotting the main trail. It had almost been as if he had been guided towards safety, in a way.

But right now, the only place he had been guided to was something he had almost completely forgotten about. Wait...? Who had he been here with again? Did he even come here with anyone at all? Or had he just ventured into the woods on his own and gotten himself lost?

He had no idea which alternative it was at that moment as he stared at the bark of the tree trunk with intentful eyes. But the last possible theory struck him as odd. He'd never trespass into the woods at that age on his own, so he must have been with someone. He must've been with someone who influenced him; a bad influence.

But it brought a dreadful headache even wondering who it could've been. The blank area in his mind seemed to radiate. He no couldn't even remember why he had once been in the forest in the first place.

But this didn't stop the tree bark from uneasing the wannabe Sheriff. Why he had just so happened to come across this particular tree, Woody had no idea.

Staring at the inscribation, implanted within the wood, his eyebrows arched.

There was nothing unusual in the slightest about it. Just two sets of initials inscribed on the bark, looking very much like how sharp pencil lines would stand out against paper.

One of the sets read 'H&S', whilst the other was incomplete, much to Woody's confusion. Why did this strike out as odd? Many teenagers, and even kids, snuck off into the bounded woods these days and left their mark. So how come he could only stare at the bark in complete shock? It wasn't unusual at all.

But it was the second mark that really made his eyes widen.

Upon his first glance, he saw the engraving 'J&', beyond the line drawn right across the middle (Someone crossing it out maybe?). But, when blinked, he saw something entirely different.

'Iungo &-)

Woody blinked hard in pure disbelief. Was he really seeing this? Or were his eyes just playing nasty tricks on him? He wasn't sure.

But when his eyes opened again, nothing was any different than it had been before when he came across the bark.

However, Woody had no idea what came over him next; since he reached out to the bark, and brushed his finger tips against the ragged line of the 'J'

What did the 'J' even stand for?: Janice? Jealousy? Jewel?

Woody had absolutely no idea, and this was what shocked him to some extent. And, more importantly, what in the world did 'Iungo' stand for?

He felt his breaths deepen and quicken as his eyes closed, quickly shooting from side to side under his closed eyelids. This had to be his imagination. It never said 'Iungo'. It must've just been his eyes that caught him off guard.

After a few moments, he felt his breath catch in his throat upon the realisation that he was really lost. And the main trail was nowhere in sight,

How on Earth did he even end up getting lost in the first place?

His mind racked through everything that had happened since he entered the forest. Right, he had planned on following the directions given from the Sheriff. But, for some reason, he ended up directing himself off course; almost as if a very subtle urge took over him.

Continuing to brush his hand along the uncompleted mark, he barely even realized that he even had his hand along it. It must've been a sense of faint curiosity that completely took over him at that moment. But it ad been so faint that he hadn't even realized what he had been doing.

And it remained this way until he brought his hand off the mark. But the mark had changed again; leaving the sticky feeling on his hands as protruding as ever. It almost felt wet...

But then his feelings of ease were obliterated when his eyes drifted over to the completed mark, and he was left completely flabbergasted by what he read. The time had come for the fates to allow him to encounter the message.

'Is est fatum of electus unus quod link statuo fortuna , tantum futurus iunctus ex childhood intus.'

Woody couldn't help but let his jaw drop at the enscribed message. That definitely hadn't been there when he saw it before; and this, he was completely sure of.

**_'Even though Woodrow Pride had come to learn many languages over the years, he was unable to understand the clear message that had been set out for him; the clear hint._**

**_And the only word that he thought he could ever pick out was the one word that mattered the most._**

**_But, as expected, he had overlooked it entirely._**

**_And it he had been able to pick out the clear meaning of the message, then he may have come to understand the following events to an easier extent._**

**_But the mind of an adult always tended to overlook the obvious; whilst the eyes of the young could pick it all out. They were able to scan through every single detail given to a greater extent than the mind of an adult._**

**_And this was why Childhood was vital._**

_**But what would happen when the forces took** **away your childhood? And what it they took it away from the one person who could connect everything together like magnets within a calm wind?'**_

Out of the entire phrase, there was only one word that stood out to the Sheriff; the one word that showed any resemblance to his own language.

And that was 'Childhood'. The one thing that had been stolen from the one person he could barely even remembee. But was the only thing that continuously remained as a puzzle in his life.

_He had to force a sigh away as he felt the grip on his left hand urge him forward, racing through the forest at a speed he was barely even able to handle._

_"What do you even wanna show me?" He asked expectantly, unable to see her face; unable to pick out her name from the jumble of incomprehensible thoughts within the back of his mind._

_He was only able to tell that the person, of who was urging him through the never-ending mass of the forest, was a girl: Maybe his age? Older? Younger? He wasn't able to tell at this moment. It was almost as if his sight was purposefully blanking her face from his mind; preventing her name from reaching the tip of his tongue._

_J...J...J? What did that mean again? Janice? Jennifer? Jewell? Jasmine? The list was endless, especially when he had absolutely no idea of who she even was._

_But all he knew was that he should know who she was. He should know her name; he should be able to remember her face._

_But his mind was skipping over these details like a dog would avoid a storm. He just couldn't remember._

_And she was right there. He could touch her; but he had absolutely no recollection of her at all._

_It was all as if it had simply been wiped clear from his mind._

He blank hard to clear the memory from the sight.

Mentally scolding at himself, he knew fully well that he should remember her name. God damn it! Who was she?

It turned out to be rather coincidental that he just so happened had recollection of the memory at a time like this; rather ironic actually.

Since, when he looked down at his hands again, all he could see was blood.

The blood of war.

A/N Sorry for the long update break:(

Anyway, feel free to send a review or a suggestion if you want.

xxxxxxxxxShannonxxxxxxxxx


	4. The Literal Race Through Time

Disclaimer: I do not own Toy Story.

A/N I would like to thank everyone who has reviewed, put this story on alert or faves so far:). A/N

The world seemed to briefly drift around her as she anxiously raced through the dense forest. Trying to head somewhere; trying to find her way anywhere.

With no idea of what was happening around her, of why it was happening for the matter, she could only pant heavily as her heart raced vigorously against her chest.

By now, she was beyond lost within the depths of the forest. Why had she even come here in the first place? She had no idea at that moment as her mind slowly began to slip away from this reality. It was almost as if something, or someone, had intentionally given her the tempting urge to wander off from the main trail.

Having already passed the large crack in the ground way behind (too far back to simply just retrace her tracks, she had absolutely no idea where she was within the vast forest. She could be near home, of which she could barely even recollect anymore, or she could be further away than she ever imagined she could travel.

It turned out that she actually was...

Trying to keep those awful ominous thoughts from her head, of which continued to raid through her mind hungrily as if just looking for a weak spot to viciously feed on, she placed two fingers on either temple as she tried to keep herself cool-headed. She couldn't be panicking now. Even if she was completely familiar with the fact that she was slowly beginning to forget who she even was in the first place, losing her head now would only ever make things worse for herself. If she had any chance of escaping, then she'd have to keep calm.

Wait there a minute... Where was she even supposed to go? What lay beyond the vast expanse of the dense forest that surrounded her completely, seemingly stretching out for miles on end, reaching towards the absolute middle of nowhere? Was there anything beyond the endless masses of trees that suspended in the air, high above the ground? Or was the scarce light, reaching through and past the leafs and branches that hung almost as high as her her neck would even allow her to look, the only thing that would ever be close to reaching reality ever again?

'No,' She told herself anxiously. She shouldn't be thinking in this way at all, especially at this moment. There had to be some way out of here. But, at that moment, she had no idea where it was. Never mind the fact that she had no idea where she was supposed to even be heading. That part of her mind had been erased already. However, she wasn't sure whether it was the panic of being caught in the moment that did this, or whether it was fault of something else entirely; something unnatural maybe? Or it could've been the fate catching up to her; the complete will of destiny.

In her perspective, any one of these theories were possible. But an adult would dismiss all but one option. There minds wouldn't even consider the fact that something unnatural could be catching up to them, and they'd never even consider that fate could be forcing its way through life in hope to have its way over the life's of its specific victims. So, instead, they'd conclude every single detail up to mental issues, basically blaming everything on a mental disorder of which threatened to drive them insane at any moment, without even the slightest hesitation.

The adults see everything that the young see. But they just don't 'believe' what they see, when the kids continue to see everything in a unigue perspective; in a way that only they can understand. In a way that their minds allowed them to understand.

But, sometimes, being able to understand what was metaphorically impossible could lead to be a major disadvantage to anyone. Sometimes it was best just not knowing.

However, Jessie had the best sight of them all. And that was what made the hidden message visible to her; what made the scarring on her hands completely visible to her eyes: The blood; the slicing in the flesh; the marking it left behind; just everything.

By now, she was beyond exhausted and collapsing against the bark of an old, wither tree seemed to be the only available option for the twelve-year-old girl. Otherwise the chance of fainting into a bush of nettles would seem very high; too high for her mental comfort. So this was exactly what she did.

Vigorously choking for air, Jessie had been unable to prevent herself from sinking to the forest floor in defeat. She had no idea where she was; she had no idea where she was going; and, heck, she barely even had an idea of what her name was. It hadn't been used in so long that it was no surprise that she had forgot. However, in reality, she had barely even been on her own for the past twenty minutes. But to her, and to anyone else that would've happened to be in her position at that exact time, it seemed like she had been lost for years; a lifetime maybe?

No, she hadn't been gone that long. That long and she would've been dead already. Heck, a hunter probably would've find her rotten corpse by now, if that had been the case, as they took their usual morning patrol for a fresh kill. But instead coming across a rotten kill that was barely even recognizable as a girl.

'No!' She mentally snapped at herself. 'You can't be thinking like that. You can't be thinking like that. There's always a way out of everything. You just have to open your eyes and look. Open your eyes and look, and then it will all be clear.'

But Jessie found it hard to convince herself this as her gaze shifted from her right hand, of which allowed the rusty knife to dangle within her half-hearted grasp, to her left hand.

It was the sight of her left hand that horrified her as the fierce clattering of metal against metal pierced through her mind; seemingly the sound of swords colliding against each other during a vigorous battle. But she ignored this as her hand shook viciously. It almost looked as if she had been branded with a sharp kitchen knife and she felt nothing more than exposed as she gaped at her blood-stained skin.

On the back of her left hand was the word 'Iungo' cut into the skin; but she felt no pain. Just the humiliation of being branded as her mind slowly drifted into tiredness. The word scarred her hand completely, as well as drawing blood, of which was slowly sliding its way down her forearm.

But she had no time to gape at the wound, when she heard the sound of two sources of metal drawing apart from each other; the ominous scraping of the material echoing through the dense space of her mind. And this was what gave her the urge to dart to her feet, almost dropping the knife in the process. But she instead gripped onto it even tighter, feeling as if she may need it for what was to come. It was almost as if she could sense that there was nothing out there.

And when she heard the piercing gun shots, she leapt in surprise.

Right, there was definitely something out there; she had to be near somewhere.

But she then decided that she'd much rather prefer to not find out, especially not when she was on her own...and lost.

Scanning the area around her cautiously, as if she expected something to just pop from behind one of the bushes or from within one of the bushes to grab her by the hair and slice her throat when she wasn't looking, she felt her breaths beginning to deepen. Was there something out there? Or was her imagination simply playing tricks on her weak mind?

No! There couldn't be anything out there. It just wasn't possible.

But she couldn't help but let her nerves take over her every sense as she backed herself against the bark of the tree.

By then the gun shots had stopped (only one round had been fired during her brief stage of panic), but they were then replaced by another sound altogether. And this time, the sound was more metallic, as if the source was hi-tech.

Almost as if her eardrums were enduring through a race in time. Either this or her mind was simply playing nasty tricks on her; nasty, unfair tricks...

She shook her head in a desperate attempt to clear those dreadful thoughts from her head. But the overwhelming tiredness was taking over; growing stronger by the second as if the frustrating day had finally caught up to her. She didn't even remember how she got here in the first place; never mind her name.

It was when she took another glance at her left hand, that her line (as to how much she could mentally handle) had finally been drawn; a line she had long since crossed and left behind in the everlasting dust. And, for once in her life, the sight made her feel sick on the insides. But it was the kind of sick where she felt as if a knife had been jammed into the centre of her chest.

So, for the first time ever, she fainted.

But this led up to nothing good in the future.

A/N Sorry for taking ages to update (again). But I still hoped you enjoyed the chapter nonetheless.

Most of this chapter was inspired by Stephan King's 'The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon' (I really rocommend that some of you read it). Well...the whole getting lost in the forest was. But, this chapter plays a major part in future chapters, so we'll just have to wait a see:)

Feel free to send a review or a suggestion if you want!

xxxxxxxxxShannonxxxxxxxxx


	5. Faint Recollections

Disclaimer: I do not own Toy Story.

A/N I would like to thank everyone who has reviewed, put this story on alert or faves so far:). A/N

_'The shredding of blood during a war in inevitable and it always has been._

_You can't call what started off as a minor quarrel, a war when there is no battle. You can't call anything a war until one man loses everything and falls face-first onto the filthy ground that lies below; you can't call a quarrel a war without involving any death whatsoever._

_There was once a time where the greatest war that the world has ever known, still continued on, and seemed no less than endless, and no more than purely petrifying. But this was a war between multiple sides; therefore being the greatest ever war known to man._

_Everything had belonged to one world. But everyone (and everything) that Woodrow Pride and Jessica Smith knew had no idea of what lay on the other side. They had no idea of the blood that continued to shred during every single ticking second that passed by, eventually leading up to an extra day being added to the toll. However, the toll was lost long before, as well as the actual death toll. _

_Minute after minute, the loss of blood became drastically worse; day after day, the everlasting pleads became louder; month after month, the undefined death toll grew drastically higher; and year after year, the powerful gained and the losers continued to lose._

_It had supposed to have been a war to end all wars, to end battles, to end the death. However, as the years went by, the goal became so much great than that, and a large majority of the sides were no more than hungry for that never ending power; more than urging for the land that could never be destroyed._

_So, it may as well be a war to end all life as know it. Well...a war that had the potential to obliterate practically every single source of human life that could be found scattered amoung the Earth's surface, and beyond of course..._

_But there were only two people in the entire world (including both divided sections of course) who had any chance of putting a stop to a quarrel that no-one could even remember; a war they were all born into, eventually learning how to fight and produce their side with what they could as the fight simply grew longer and longer. And these two people were the 'Chosen One' and the 'Link' of course. _

_There had been a legend running on for many years that 'Destiny' would choose one who would set an end to it all as they knew it (The Chosen One), and that the 'Link' would connect everything together (setting it all up for the 'Chosen One' if you must say it). They also believed that it was the concept of 'Childhood' that would eventually bring all determined Link and the Chosen One together, ready to piece everything up. No-one had known how this 'Childhood could bring the two together. But there was one thing that was certain._

_Most of the rumours had been burnt to ashes long before, and if any truth had wriggled and cut its way through time to the present day, then there's no chance in the world that anyone would ever believe them._

_And besides, even if they had had any hope, the Link and the Chosen One were much too old for this by now._

_This enabled for the blood of war to continue spilling throughout the following years._

_It had also turned out that they had given up hope before these children were even conceived.'_

Woody stumbled backwards a few paces, eventually backing himself against the old bark of a tree without even being aware of the fact in the slightest and he could do nothing else other than simply gaped at his hands in pure horror as the sight of his blood stained hands both horrified and shocked him all at once.

The wannabe Sheriff was completely unable to remember a time where he had been so terrified by the simple sight of blood. In fact, he didn't know if he had ever even cringed at the sight before this day. However, if he had, then he would've forgotten about it. Since his mind was becoming blank.

Wait...? How did he even get here in the first place? Was he meant to be here? Was it all a coincidence? Or was Destiny cutting its way through everyday life, first torturing the twenty-five year old before finding some real fresh meat to move onto next?

Woodrow Pride had absolutely no idea of this at this moment. And, to be honest, these thoughts were clearly on his low priority list as she continued to gape at his own hands in absolute horror.

Why on Earth did he have blood on his hands? And, more importantly, where had it come from?

It didn't take him that long to realize that he was completely clueless in this situation as his lips began to quiver vigorously.

It was just blood. There was no doubt that he had seen it many times before in the slightest. In fact, he had cut himself with a knife before, when his hand slipped during cutting food, and he hadn't acted in this way. He had not been like this before, and had instead simply shrugged before covering the wound up nice and gently and then proceeding with the rest of his day normally.

But it was pretty darn clear that this was not a normal day. He could barely even remember why he was here firstly and secondly...well...the list could go on forever this way. But this day wasn't a regular one in the slightest.

He couldn't help himself from doing what he did next as he stumbled, heading in the direction of the marked line in the ground (the one he had not seen the best part of thirteen years beforehand); he rubbed his stained hands together.

Nothing. Why did nothing happen?

Woody would've questioned this, if one particular sound hadn't caught his attention. Wait, no. It wasn't one sound. It was a set of sounds that seemingly raced through time (the exact same sounds his friend, the one of which he had completely forgotten about, had heard almost thirteen years before; when she actually did have the ability to understand what she had heard.

However Woody did not understand what he heard; his mind just simply couldn't do it, almost an impossibility.

Feeling his heart race against his chest even harder after every passing second, his head began to feel lighter and lighter and he honestly didn't think he could manage this all at the pace it proceeded to travel at.

Woodrow Pride barely even made it past the mark that drew a line to everything before he slowly passed out, sinking closer and closer to the ground after every passing moment.

By now, his chance had been gone for over twelve years; his chance to put a stop to everything.

A/N A bit of a crappy chapter...oh well... The story will move a long a bit faster soon enough (even though it is quite fast now though ^_^)

Feel free to send a review or a suggestion if you want!

xxxxxxxxxShannonxxxxxxxxx


	6. It's Your Fault!

Disclaimer: I do not own Toy Story.

A/N I would like to thank everyone who has reviewed, put this story on alert or faves so far:). A/N

_Woodrow Pride groaned as he flicked the small flash light on with one swift motion of his thumb. His knuckles whitening as his grip grew firmer on the smooth plastic._

_It hadn't even been twelve hours before when reports had been sent out, to the entire department, each and every one of them claiming that a local girl (her name having already slipped from his head as easily as a melting ice cube would slide off someones fingertips if they messed with it too much) had been reported missing from the area, having last been walking off into a woods by a friend who had long since been completely traumatized. And, by now, they had already set out search parties all over the area the services considered vital, which just so happened to be the areas they expected her body to be (dead or alive)._

_No-one would have ever expected the real truth though: What had really happened to the girl who had been reported missing no more than twelve hours before. There had been quite a few reports over the past few years giving details of child malesterors' dumping corpses into woods as they attempted to hide their true crimes, having just kidnapped a child from the main trail (those children who were not aware of the 'Stranger Danger' motive) and brutally murdered the innocent victim mercilessly without the second hesitation._

_However, Woody had severely doubted this theory at that moment of time, the last reported case having been months ago, as the details became clear. The friend who had found himself lost within the forests before being found by an official in the area, had claimed his friend had simply fled from his sight in a desperate urge to do something._

_What was that something now? Argh, he should remember this!_

_However, no matter how hard he tried, he didn't have the faintest idea of what the girl had been trying to do; nor could he even remember the boys or the girls name. It was almost as if it had been purposefully been erased from his mind as easily as a candle flame could be extinguished completely within the strong drafts of heavy winds._

_He couldn't remember their names, or what had actually happened to them (other than what the boy had claimed), but he knew what he had to do to say the least. He had to find the girl and not only did he have to do his best to find her: It was also his job to find the girl. So he had to do whatever he could in order to try and find her. No questions about it. Just get ready and go. This was what he was trained to do; this was all he was trained to do._

_Woodrow Pride had to find the Link before he did anything else - before he could even think of doing anything else to tell the truth - and when he had the link, it was then he could fulfill his own part in all of this. And these were the thoughts that permanently ran through his mind as he directed that sharp ray of light through the dim light that surrounded him, seemingly cutting through the everlasting shadows as easily as a hot knife would make a cut through warm butter._

_But what was his role in the first place within all of this (other than finding the girl of course)? What was the point of it in the first place? And, more importantly, why did he feel this urge that pushed his senses forwards?_

_After a few moments of endlessly racking through his mind, Woody still had no answer whatsoever; and he had no hope of finding one anytime soon either._

_But what on Earth was the 'Link'? And why did he find the resistant, tempting urge, almost impossible to resist?_

_To these, he still had no answers. But there was still one more question that continued to ring through his mind:_

_Why did he feel as if he needed it?_

_No matter how hard he could have tried with this one, he simply just had no answer. But he knew he needed it to connect everything together._

_So this was why he closed his mind and allowed his instincts to take control as he cut his way though the forest._

_His first sighting of the girl occurred just as he entered the clearings within the woods._

_Her body lay awkwardly within the center of the clearing, of which most would presume to be the edge of the forest when the location was point blank in the middle. Her head faced the stars but her closed eyes were directed towards the dusty ground beside her._

_Upon first glance, Woody assumed that she must be no older than twelve years of age - possibly even thirteen - and when he drew closer towards the body (which he desperately hoped wasn't a corpse, he just didn't know how he'd be able to handle it if it was) he was able to confirm his suspicions. However, the girl didn't seem to have been sexually abused in the slightest. Quite the opposite actually -_

_'But why did she seem so familiar?'_

_But he did come across something that made him want to upchuck._

_And it was her left hand._

_Past the stained blood, Woody could clearly pick out what the word, of which had been cut into her skin, read:_

_'Iungo'_

_He had no idea how he had been able to read that, or what kind of sick minded person could have ever done this, but he was unable to realize why this girl seemed so familiar. Who was she?_

_And when he came across the knife (or dagger, he couldn't tell), his eyebrows arched in confusion. Overlooking the blood (of which made the man want to be sick all over again), it didn't look rusted over in the slightest. But shouldn't this be the case? Even this question seemed to override the one question that the deputy should've been asking himself._

_What the hell has this girl done to herself?_

_However, before he even had the decent amount of time to ponder over the thought, he was caught by surprise when the girl's eyes snapped open._

_"You can't get anywhere without the 'Link' Pride." A cold voice, definitely not belonging to the child, spoke up, causing the awestruck man to pace back in utter shock. "Without her, you can't get anywhere. But you can try Pride, oh how you can try."_

_"W-what?" Was all about Woody could murmur as he stared down at the girl in shock, her clear, emerald eyes protruding unnaturally against the night air._

_"You had it once, but you let it go. And now it's too late." The chilling voice spoke up, before exclaiming. "It's your fault!"_

_However, before he even had the chance to react to the situation, he found himself spiralling somewhere far away; somewhere 'very' far away._

A/N I somehow managed to lose a large chunk of this chapter after I wrote this all out. And the chunk was apart of the middle. So, this had been rather annoying. Oh well, at least I didn't lose all of it.

Feel free to send a review or a suggestion if you want!

xxxxxxxxxShannonxxxxxxxxx


	7. The Dark Voice

Disclaimer: I do not own Toy Story.

A/N I would like to thank everyone who has reviewed, put this story on alert or faves so far:). A/N

Over the years, many have questioned one particular aspect. What was it? What could it be? Did it actually have any effect on those around in the first place? Or dd it act like a faint whisper in the screeching winds that was no more than desperate to be heard.

They mainly questioned the aspect because they had no idea of what the word could really mean, even though they could give their best shot at a guess literally anytime they wanted.

And this word was, of course, 'Destiny'.

What was it exactly? Was it a force? Was it a clause? Was it something entirely different? Many people didn't know. For all they knew over the matter, 'Destiny' could have been anything.

In truth though, Destiny was rather predicted result (that somehow managed to always predict itself completely and utterly correct) more than anything else. And people couldn't control it, because 'Destiny' was the result of what 'they' did. So there was no wonder that it always turned out in ways that hadn't been expected in the slightest.

What did this word really mean? This was a question that often ran through one's conscience during some point in their short lives (even if they aren't aware of the fact in the slightest) as they proceeded through the twists and tangles of daily routines as they know it.

Only a scarce few knew the real meaning of the word; but even then they still found themselves struggling to come into a direct context with it. Sometimes it was just hard to understand. You could apply it, that was for sure, but actually understanding what it was after all was another matter entirely. It took patience, perseverance, and a general acceptance for the worst to even find out what 'Destiny' was in the first place. However, it took something a hell of a lot more to actually understand what it all meant (of which was very, 'very' rare to come across); to understand 'why' it was important.

And quite a lot of this would revolve around the 'Link' and the 'Chosen One'. But what were they in the first place? Were 'they' even 'things'? Or were they forces that crept through the Earth's atmosphere on a daily basis, looking for something - someone - to guide into a fate that continued to remain unknown, out of reach from anything that even had the potential energy to reach out in the first place? Not many possessed this energy; they wouldn't even question this fact as the havoc spread and the chaos became drastically worse, reaching to an extent that even the most intelligent could barely even imagine.

Yes, it had all been tragic; and the consequences of it all had been drastic (still continuing to do so as those less fortunate proceeded in battling for their own lives). But even this had not prevented the rumours from spreading out like a forest fire within the centre of the dense woods; the dense woods that never ran out of possible fuel resources. Oh yes, it was the never ending forest indeed (presumably of course). In truth, nothing was never ending, even if you could walk down its path for the rest of your lives. Everything had to stop at one point. And some might even claim that this in itself had been a major part of 'Destiny', a major assumption that many had questioned over their lives and still continued to do so as life as they knew proceeded on.

Could this fact be true? Could they be correct when they state this. Or were they simply just as wrong as everybody else was in this situation? This was one of those answers that hardly any would understand for the time being. But they were set to; and this was a fact that was sure set to be learned.

However, the biggest question still remained.

What's the 'Link' and who is the 'Chosen One'? Would they ever find the answer out to this at all?

Unfortunately, this was one question that they were soon set to decipher.

When Woodrow Pride eventually awoke, he was somewhere he had never expected to be; never in his life.

However, how can you expect to be somewhere you didn't even know existed?

When his eyes shot open to the dim light around him, different to the forest light of course and this was mainly what made him wonder if he had dreamt the entire encounter (rather than just the previous dream), he almost instantly felt that sharp, sticky pain on his bare chest as he struggled against the rope that bounded his right hand to one of the back wooden poles on the back of the boarding board.

And for these few moments, the previous dream remained freshly implanted within his memory, to such an extent that he practically forgot about his unusual surroundings.

Who was the girl, and why had she seemed so familiar?

These were questions that Woodrow Pride was not meant to decipher for the time being. And the girl in the dream seemed to stand out to him more than the fact that he had actually been imprisioned.

So, to sum it all up; he had no idea who the girl was and why she seemed so familiar - so out of place in the dream, as if she should have been in a different state (older maybe? He wasn't so sure); he had no idea what the dream had meant -

_"You can't get anywhere without the 'Link' Pride." _The cold voice had told him, definitely not belonging to the child in the slightest. It had been far too deep pitched for a girl of her age, maybe even belonging to a woman in her early twenties (maybe even near the same age as himself)? Except much colder - darker - that it should have been; unnatural for sure. Almost as if the very voice itself had been bewitched._ "Without her, you can't get anywhere. But you can try Pride, oh how you can try."_

What had that voice meant?

This was what Woody reeled over before he eventually realized that he was not where he should be.

A/N Another short chapter. But I needed to get something down at least.

Feel free to send a review or a suggestion if you want!

xxxxxxxxxShannonxxxxxxxxx


	8. The Line That Cannot Be Crossed

Disclaimer: I do not own Toy Story.

A/N I would like to thank everyone who has reviewed read or, put this story on alert or faves list so far. It means a lot:). A/N

The world is made up of lines.

In the world, no-one can go anywhere without noticing a line (of any shape, size or form) of some sort subtly catching their eyes in the way that a determined Baseball pitcher would successfully dive for the ball at the first chance it had.

The world was full of lines. But even this was an understatement within itself.

Not only was the world full of lines: But it was instead FORMED from lines. The whole meaning of life (within the certain divisions of the world) was developed from the single aspect of lines: The forms of science and Geology (as well as many other aspects in life) are all formed from this single unit - a unit of which had no limit, no 'length' to keep the pattern of the divisions safe.

But there was one line that should stand out from almost everything else. But this was the line that remained invisible to most - in fact; it would only ever reveal itself to those that needed to see it. And yes, this did include both the 'Link' and the 'Chosen One' as their Destiny was determined by the force that no-one in the world could see - The Unseen Force which did NOT want to be noticed in the slightest.

And this line was the line that divided the civilised from the uncivilised; seeming to draw a boundary between worlds in the mean time.

If someone tried to cross the line, and continue to head in the same direction until they came across an act of civilisation, then they would have starved to death before getting anywhere in the slightest. And there was a reason for this; but it was currently one that remained unknown by most - seemingly no more than the faint whisper within the screeching winds; it had no hope in the slightest of being noticed by the average human eye.

Nonetheless, it was one line that the 'Link' and the 'Chosen One' had the ability to cross.

But this was not something that they'd ever want to possess to speak for the better.

However, it was something that they could NOT avoid; no matter what they tried.

-

The dark haired man, long since within his mid-forties, sighed as he crossed the dimly lit hall. It wasn't s sigh of depression, but more of one of annoyance.

He had been called into the examination room several minutes before, and he was only just making his way there right as the patience of the his fellow colleagues began to inevitably grow shorter as every single moment darted by, leaving hardly any time for them to even consider the fact that he could be heading there at this very moment in the first place. However, all in all, they had a reason to be; and it was one reason that could NEVER be ignored, especially since the matter had only been called up for once.

By this day, the month of August had already rolled by, and the world was set deeply into the year of 1997, seemingly clinging onto the act of dear life as the state of the economy - and literally everything about the world around them - worsened to an extent others had once presumed to have been absolutely unreachable - impossible actually. It all should have been over before the time of their birth, and the impact the quarrel had on the world was simply astonishing; not to mention utterly devastating to say the least.

The world - of which their ancestors had once been very friendly with - had, at one point, been away from the peak by fraction of a centimetre at the most, and every decently educated person this day knew this fact. The world had once been great - thriving a great potential which established the development of life as they knew it - but something had occurred many, many years before hand and, all of the sudden, the sides of the world suddenly found each other pasted at the enemies throats. And since that day, it had been the children of the children suffering for the sins of their ancestors - who had made it THEIR job to continue the job on.

And no end would seemingly arrive soon. It was clear that it would remain this state for quite some time - YEARS actually.

Sighing, Xeron Razor, son of the man known as Zurg (who no longer had a last name in his current position), made his way towards the examination room. Truth had it that a young girl had been found lying in a ditch near the edge of the forest (which had ironically been located beside Zurg's hideout burrowed within the side of the mountains - a perfect hiding place for those who weren't wanting to be noticed) in a state of unconsciousness, being found with a rusty knife and a bloody hand to add to the overall level of shock.

However, that hadn't been the real problem: In fact, even the shock of finding her hadn't been anywhere near this.

The problem was, she had been in this state for three days now and the back of her hand still bled (even though the word that had been encrypted into the skin was nowhere near comprehensible), and her hand was still clenched in that half-fist, as if she still expected herself to be holding the knife within her firm grip.

And it turned out to be the tests that shocked them the most.

A/N Only a short chapter, but it was more of a filler to be honest.

Anyway, feel free to send a review or a suggestion if you want!

xxxxxxxxxShannonxxxxxxxxx


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